CFD analysis of vertical axis wind turbine with modified blades for deployment in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

Olayemi, Olalekan Adebayo; Ajide, Tomisin Favour; Jinadu, Abdulbaqi; Oladimeji, Leke Thaddeus; Olayemi, David Omotayo; Amoloye, Taofiq Omoniyi; Bambe, Jumoke M.

doi:10.30772/qjes.2024.151245.1293

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ Department of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria

² Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria

10.30772/qjes.2024.151245.1293

Abstract

Researchers and the energy industry are currently focusing their efforts on optimizing the effectiveness of vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWT) to cut down on the reliance on energy supply from fossil fuels which releases gases that are toxic to the environment. As such, several methods have been applied, including increasing the velocity and modification of both the trailing and leading edges of the aerofoil. In the present investigation, numerical studies of the flow on the wind turbine blades with a NACA0015 airfoil section equipped with and without tubercles on the trailing edge were conducted using ANSYS Fluent. A computational domain of 2000mm by 35000mm was employed with the turbulence model. This two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was performed with Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria wind data that was received from the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET). The modified blade with a wavelength of 0.09m and an amplitude of 0.004m is seen to have a better thrust than the unmodified blade. It produced a thrust of 118N for a tip-speed ratio (TSR) of 4.0 compared to 109N of the unmodified blade at the same TSR and that of the modified blade (1) which attains 107N. Also, its coefficient of performance is 5% and 6% higher than that of the straight and modified blades (1) respectively,suggest that an increase in the tubercle’s wavelength and amplitude increased the maximum thrust.

Keywords

References

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Al-Qadisiyah Journal for Engineering Sciences

CFD analysis of vertical axis wind turbine with modified blades for deployment in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

References

References

Volume 18, Issue 1
March 2025
Pages 83-91

CFD analysis of vertical axis wind turbine with modified blades for deployment in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

References

References

Volume 18, Issue 1March 2025Pages 83-91

Volume 18, Issue 1
March 2025
Pages 83-91